Transforming Knowledge to Power
Coach to a Fortune by Arfeen Khan
Since my primary school days at Mpumelelo Primary School, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia, I was one for always being ready to help other people. I remember distinctly, during my second grade when a new student came into our class. He came from Zambia and could hardly speak English or any of the local languages. The language impediment presented itself as a barrier to him in many ways and he could therefore not fit in.
For reasons I have never been able to explain, I took it upon myself to help him to settle down socially and with the basics of schooling. It was only after our class teacher commended me publicly that it dawned on me that I had done a good deed. To me, it was just the right thing to do. To sound rather “sophisticated” about the whole experience, I could well say this fellow classmate of mine was my first “coaching client”, as I helped him to bring out his best within that school and social environment.
As I was growing up, I found myself in different situations that called upon me to help or advise people in one way or the other. This was also evident at high school where I was ever ready to speak up for others and to stand for what I believed was right.
At the end of my high school career, I reluctantly approached my headmaster to request for a testimonial. I was rather concerned that, maybe, to spite me, the headmaster would write something negative about me. I had been in his face a lot over some issues, with some seemingly controversial; the most critical of which was our right, as sixth form students, to go on a two to three-week study leave as we prepared for our final school exams.
Even though the headmaster had refused to grant us official study leave I told my fellow classmates that we could take study leave, as we could not be expelled anymore, we had to write our final exams and we could not be prevented from doing that.
On the day that I received the testimonial, I read it and just had this sinking feeling deep down in my belly, as though someone had punched me really hard. I read it once, twice and more times, I cannot even remember how many times. I was convinced that the man had had the last laugh at my expense.
There was a sentence in the testimonial that had me worried sick as it contained a word that I had never come across before. Very hesitantly, after collecting the testimonial, I went to the public library to look up this new word which the headmaster had used to describe me. I knew the rest of the words except this one word which was going to determine if I showed my parents or anyone else for that matter, the testimonial or not.
At the library, I contemplated if I should go straight to the reference section or just walk around keeping myself busy with anything and everything, as far away from my intended mission as possible. As I needed time to psyche myself up for the inevitable, I chose to while away time before looking the dreaded word up. I was not ready to find out what the headmaster had said about me.
Finally, after cocking up the necessary courage, to my utmost shock and surprise, I got to learn the meaning of the new word which summed up who I was and who I am now. After meeting Arfeen Khan, I was able to give context to this word in as far as my journey to personal life transformation was concerned.
The sentence that had presented itself as a cause for deep concern, worry and just generally feeling stressed, read as follows: “Sabelo is a very altruistic young man”. Given the headaches I had caused, I was sure that the word “altruistic’ meant something negative like a troublemaker or some such.
My altruism led me to situations where even when, whilst studying for my law degree in Aberdeen, Scotland I became homeless, living in the basement of a church, I was still able to advise and help other people, including the homeless people.
Given the financial predicament I found myself in I did odd jobs and eventually got an opportunity to work at Pizza Hut as a delivery driver. T Pizza Hut I managed to convince the management not to throw away leftover pizzas and pasta but to give them to me to take to the homeless people. After my homeless flatmate and I got our share of the “loot” we always took the rest to the homeless shelter, the bus station and the harbour to help feed other homeless people.
It was this altruistic nature that consolidated my resolve to be a lawyer, following in the footsteps of my father. Further, though I was not necessarily conscious of the fact at the time, it was this altruism that became greatly responsible for my choice of specialising in criminal and human rights law and also humanitarian work in general.
Due to certain restrictions on registering foreign-trained lawyers in South Africa, I found myself more involved in humanitarian work; I even tried out on coaching, but somehow I was not making the impact I desired.
On the 12th of October 2019 at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Cape Town, my reality began to take a total change. Sitting there listening to Arfeen during a Coach to a Fortune preview, brought many things to the surface as regards why I was so stuck. When I left home for the preview it was more out of curiosity than anything else. At the end of the preview, I knew that whatever it would take I would make it a point to ensure that I signed up, as he had answered many questions that I had not asked and some I did not even realise I had.
My resolve to sign up was not complemented by my bank balance. I had a negative balance at the time but before the end of the night I had raised the money to pay my initial deposit for the course. I felt so bad for Imran who patiently waited for me to come back to the hotel with the cash. Having left the hotel round about 2:00pm to go and look for the money, it was around 10pm or so that I left the hotel to go back home, after making my payment to Imran.
It is now seven months since I started on my Coach to a Fortune journey. Without any fear of contradiction, I can definitely say the decision that I took on that Saturday morning, to sign up for the course, was the best decision of 2019. I have experienced breakthroughs which have seen me get over the feeling of being perpetually stuck and my worst, procrastination. Now I can methodically take decisions and see them through without any dilly-dallying. I have elevated myself to a level I had not imagined before.
In as much the saying goes that “a journey of 1000 miles starts with the first step” I have learnt that the journey of a 1000 miles starts with the first decision to move the first step. Further, I have learnt that “knowledge is not power”, as Arfeen said that day. Knowledge only becomes power when applied and to transform it to power, knowledge must be accompanied by a tried and tested system and a supportive team, which system and team I am proud to be now associated with.
